Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin addressed reporters at the White House on the VA and his top priorities for the department. Priorities include more timely medical care access for vets, reduced disability claims backlogs, expanded community care options for patients, improved information technology systems and more.

View his informative presentation and his responses to the many questions of reporters: http://bit.ly/2skdaLR

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently announced the awarding of 12 contracts between 5 firms totaling $6.8 billion to improve the Medical Disability Examination process (Compensation and Pension Examinations) for Veterans. The awards are intended to reduce Veterans’ wait times for examinations for service-connected benefits, thereby providing faster claims decisions in a more efficient and streamlined way.

The Veterans Benefit Administration has transitioned from a paper-based claims process to an electronic processing environment, moving from handling thousands of tons of paper each year to processing nearly 100 percent of disability compensation claims electronically. The backlog of claims has been significantly reduced, and the average time it takes to complete a claim is now 124 days. More improvements are on the way.

The final blog in a series of five on the Veterans Affairs Disability Appeals Process is a synopsis of the series, which covers the difference between a claim and an appeal, the appeals process that occurs in the VA regional offices and at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, and what happens if your appeal is remanded by the board. The articles are by the leader of the VA’s Strategic Communications and Planning Team.

The Veterans Affairs Department’s backlog of disability claims will finish 2015 near its lowest level in six years, down by 88 percent from its peak of nearly 612,000 cases in the spring of 2013. While processing of first-time claims has improved significantly, the backlog of claims appeals remains a target for future efforts.

On December 17th, the Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that it plans to propose expanded disability compensation eligibility for veterans exposed to contaminated drinking water while assigned to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Multiple myeloma is on the list of conditions presumed to be related to the exposure.

The number of backlogged veterans disability claims has fallen under 100,000, significantly less than the 613,000 claims backlog just two years ago. The new figure of about 98,500 claims being backlogged (pending for over 125 days) is a figure that officials in the Department of Veterans Affairs are hailing as proof that years of effort into modernizing their systems are paying dividends. Advances in digital processing and efficiency, and having claims processors work overtime has helped significantly. VA is confident the backlog will continue to shrink.

The Veterans Affairs Department is introducing new, standardized disability claims forms that officials say will make it easier for veterans and their survivors to clearly state what benefits they’re seeking from the VA and provide the right information to process their claims and appeals.

This Stars and Stripes article amplifies info in a prior Alert on the recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on veterans disability compensation. The CBO suggests three options to alter policies for identifying service-connected conditions and to conduct long-term monitoring of disability ratings. One option would impose a time limit on filing initial claims. Another would require more reexaminations of vets with disability ratings to track changes and adjust ratings. A third option would change the standard for presumptively associating medical conditions with certain hazardous exposures. Additional options to control …